WATSON, WOOSNAM QUELL RUMORS OF MILD DISPUTE

Remarks made during the CBS-TV broadcast of the third round of the Masters Saturday indicated there was at least a mild dispute between playing partners Tom Watson and Ian Woosnam.

The two players, however, said nothing could be further from the truth."I don't even know what started this," Watson said. "There is absolutely nothing to it."

The situation began when Woosnam, leading Watson by a stroke in their battle for the Masters title, almost holed a long eagle putt at the par-5 15th. The ball hung on the lip for a moment before Woosnam removed the flagstick and tapped the ball into the hole.

On television, Watson could be seen talking to Woosnam. Tom Weiskopf, serving as a commentator for CBS, said it appeared there was a disagreement between the two players concerning the length of time Woosnam should wait in hopes the ball would topple into the cup.

"The only thing I told him was that he should mark his ball to keep the flagstick from hitting it when he took it out," Watson said. "Actually, if I had been him, I would have waited a few more seconds. The ball was hanging over the lip."

Woosnam said he went ahead and tapped the ball in because he didn't want anybody to think he was delaying play.

"I didn't want people to think I was taking too much time," Woosnam said. "If I had waited a little longer, though, I think the ball would have gone in."

Woosnam eventually emerged with a one-shot lead over Watson going into Sunday's final round.